


Better. Faster. Stronger… Harder.

by Merci



Category: Bleach
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Explicit Sexual Content, Frottage, Hot Springs, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-19
Updated: 2008-10-19
Packaged: 2017-10-16 20:27:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/169016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merci/pseuds/Merci
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renji is helping Chad train in the dome beneath the Urahara shop to become a stronger fighter.  They take a break in a hidden hot spring and Renji introduces his training partner to how he used to do things in the eleventh division.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better. Faster. Stronger… Harder.

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** I do not own Renji, Chad, or Bleach. I am making no profit from this fanfiction.
> 
> I wrote this on the bus last semester.  I… don’t remember how I was inspired.  I think this came from seeing Renji and Chad training during the… Bounto arc?  Maybe the beginning of the Arrancar arc (after Chad almost gets nailed by D-Roy).  Yeah, he got his neck slashed at and felt bad and weak and Renji decided to help him out and train him.
> 
> So… yeah. This isn’t my best work. I’m not really looking for con-crit here. I just wrote this for: a) sheer porn value, and b) to get it out of my hiatus folder and into my COMPLETE folder. I’m having this sudden NEED to get my unfinished works either DONE or DELETED.
> 
> I couldn’t bear to delete this.
> 
> Oh, there’s also some Chad/Nova that you will miss if you blink. I… wish there was more of those two.

The air above Karakura town was calm.  Sunny and uneventful above ground with only a hint of the explosions that were happening far beneath the small shop that sat nestled behind the buildings.

The doors to the Urahara shop were almost always closed to the public, but travelling through the gates, through the secret passage that led deep beneath the city, one could find an immense opening.  A cave woven with magic to make it appear as light as day.  The single ladder, precarious and solid as it led to the surface and attached to the ground with some certain finality and tender connection to get out of there.

The ex-shinigami captain had built the location for training.  Its usefulness had been negligible until recently when Ichigo and his friends had shown up and the real kafuffle in soul society had begun.  Now, it housed any one of the visiting shinigami, humans, or modified souls that decided to climb down the ladder and pit their skill against one another, constantly training to become better.

Stronger.

More powerful.

Renji fired his attack out, missing the human by inches.  He could feel his power increasing, but his energy attacks got sloppy, flying wide and missing the red-haired shinigami by miles.

He watched as Chad dropped to one knee, his breathing deep in his chest from the exertion of his last attack.

“Oi, don’t get sloppy!” he called out and fired his bone sword at the dark-haired man once more.  The thick spine column broke apart into an energy snake, propelling its attack at the tired human.

Chad rolled out of the way at the last moment, grunting as his hands began smoking before he released another blast of power.  The beam of light struck the zanpaktou point-blank and sent it flying to the side. 

Renji grinned wolfishly as he flew in close, seeing how Chad was ready for him; never pausing, never assuming.  He was on his feet and ready to match his attack with the solidity of a brick wall.

Renji slammed into him, testing that strength and training him just as hard as anyone in his squad.  This wasn’t a joke to him and he regarded the human just as he would any other shinigami.  This human had some power that he didn’t understand, but he still wanted to use it to help Ichigo fight.  While this goal was beneath the captain of the sixth squad, Renji felt the drive to help him.  The burning desire to fight, get _stronger_ spoke to his roots in the eleventh division fighting alongside the strongest group in all of soul society.  Renji regarded Chad as a fellow warrior and would treat him as such.

The redheaded shinigami slammed into Chad and bounced back.  “Damn,” he panted.  He was getting _good_.  “Time for a break.”  He climbed to his feet, dusting his black robes off and held his zanpaktou low, looking imploringly at Chad.  He showed the scorch marks on his weapon from Chad’s energy blasts, letting him see that he was improving without actually telling him as such.  He could see the dark-haired man’s ego swell a bit to know he’d become stronger.

Renji inclined his head and arched a brow, relaxing his stance as Chad nodded at the suggestion, lowering his fists and dropping his shoulders.

“Ohh, wonderful!” a voice boomed out of nowhere.  The two fighters swiveled to see the figure of the eccentric shopkeeper appearing from behind a boulder.  Right on cue.  “You two are getting pretty good.  I’m impressed.”  His voice was high and light and Renji listened stoically.  The blond shopkeeper was way too energetic and it wouldn’t be surprising to see little hearts appear around his words he spoke.  “If you’re taking a break, do you want to relax in an onsen?  I had one installed down here somewhere…”  He trailed off as he looked over his shoulder, as if he was trying to remember where he’d put his hot spring.

“Uh…” Chad looked at Renji. 

The redhead shrugged.  “We didn’t see a hot spring…” he made his confusion clear in his voice, but the shopkeeper didn’t seem to care.  He looked around as well, but the training ground was, essentially, a barren wasteland with nothing but a painted sky, sand and rocks.

“Oh, I didn’t show you it?” the ex-captain pulled out a fan and hid his mouth while his eyes danced with mirth.  “It’s in a se~cret place.”  He turned and led the way with confidence.  The two younger men shrugged and followed. 

The older shinigami led them around a clustering of rocks and down an invisible path that only he seemed to know.  Renji followed, looking over at Chad every so often to gauge his reaction to the strange path as Urahara suddenly turned and led them between two large boulders nestled in front of a cliff. 

The redhead looked around as the passage narrowed in places and then broke, revealing a clearing hidden behind a wall of stone.  The air felt hot as they stepped out, finding a hot spring nestled against the side of a cliff in perfect seclusion.

Renji felt a little overdressed as he approached the side of the pool, carved from the rock.  He turned, observing the rest of the area and wasn’t surprised to find a small shower area for them to disrobe and prepare to use the springs.  He arched an eyebrow and scratched the back of his head before sighing; it was hard to be surprised when Urahara was involved.  Random was expected.

“Well, there are some matters that need my attention in the shop, so I’ll leave you two here,” the blonde shopkeeper backed away.  “I hope you two can enjoy yourselves all alone?” his voice lilted to the side, dipping deeply.  He indicated the alcove with the showers to wash off before climbing into the water.  He turned and left the two fighters watching his green-clad back as it retreated behind the boulders, paper fan waving behind him and he left.

The two men looked at each other, shrugged, and stepped around the hot spring to get to the shower area.  Renji folded his clothes neatly and placed them in the basket, and stepped under the hot spray of the shower.  He turned his head to see Chad washing up beside him.  It was the first time he’d had the opportunity to observe the other man and he found his eyes roaming over the human’s body, taking in the sharp angles and beautiful dark skin that rippled with strength every time he moved.  He couldn’t stop looking, following each hard, angular muscle along his darkly coloured skin, all the way down…

He jerked his head to the side and looked away, quickly finishing up so he could get out of there.  He could feel the steam rising around them; hear the patter of the shower as the water crashed around Chad’s body and onto the ground.  He scrubbed at his hair, quickly wiping the sweat from his skin and turned away, looking for a towel to preserve his modesty.

+

The towels Urahara had left for them were laughably small.  Renji tied the white terrycloth around his waist, but it barely knotted on his hip before slipping free and falling down.  He sighed irritatedly and held the cloth in place as he walked toward the hot spring, leaving Chad in the shower behind him.

The redhead stepped up to the edge of the water and removed the white covering.  He gingerly stepped into the steaming hot liquid and folded his towel, placing it behind his neck as a pillow.  He settled back into the water and a moan escaped his lips, letting the relaxing warmth seep into him and recalling memories of similar training days in the eleventh division filter into his mind’s eye.

He missed training under the members of the fighting squad.  They knew how to push him to his limits, making him better.  He was doing the same with Chad, pushing his boundaries.  An errant memory caught his attention, sending a spark of inspiration up his spine and down through his limbs.  The eleventh division was a tight-knit group for many reasons, one of those being their extracurricular activities.  It was one ritual that he’d missed once he changed over to the sixth division under Byakuya. 

His new stoic captain wasn’t interested in the primal needs of his subordinates.  Wasn’t interested in letting them get their frustrations out or taking care of any pent-up tensions.  No, captain Zaraki had been more enthusiastic about letting his men relax and do whatever the hell they wanted in their spare time.  These “activities” usually involved some team-building exercises involving naked shinigami, sake, and lots of sex.

Renji growled in the back of his throat, the loss of those days suddenly weighing on him in the form of pent-up desire.  He needed to get off, and nobody in the sixth was ever interested in helping him out.  He cracked an eye to watch Chad emerge from the shower area and walk towards him, towel clutched to his side.  The soft terrycloth was barely enough to hide the dark-haired man’s sharp angles and protruding… anatomy.

Memories of the eleventh were beckoning him to move, act on the desire that was pushing all sense out of the way.  He hummed deep in the back of his throat as Chad removed the towel and stepped into the water, settling into a seat in the rock just beside the shinigami.

Chad, thankfully, wasn’t big on conversation and the two fighters sat in the hot water in amicable silence.  Quiet that Renji used to figure out how the hell he’d make a move on his training partner.  “So…” he started, the word already feeling awkward as he spoke, but he tried the small talk first.  “You’re getting pretty good, huh?”

Chad frowned and Renji felt his guts tighten.  “Mmm,” the giant rumbled.  “Maybe.”

Renji continued.  “No, really.  You made me work up a sweat today.  I mean, I _really_ needed this bath.  Leave it to old Urahara to keep a secret like this place, eh?”

“Yeah.”

Renji bit his lip and settled back against the rock.  Fucking conversation didn’t work on this guy.  He fumed for a second and then got another idea to get Chad’s attention.  He pretended to close his eyes and relax into the water, but kept his eyes open a crack to watch the other man.  He waited, waited until the moment felt right and then he stuck his foot out.  He moved the limb through the water until he connected with the hot, muscular skin of the other man.

He watched the dark man twitch a bit, then opened his eyes to look at Renji.

The shinigami pretended to rest and keep his foot lightly touching Chad’s knee.  When the dark-haired man didn’t resist, the shinigami moved his foot again, rubbing against his knee and then inching along his thigh, oh-so innocently.

Chad made a sound at the back of his throat and Renji opened his eyes and smiled, feigning ignorance.  He continued kneading his toes against the soft skin and firm muscle just beneath the water.  His eyes were locked with Chad’s, gauging his reaction and gaining confidence as the larger man didn’t move away.

“I think we need to _really_ unwind,” Renji finally said, feeling his mouth curl up into a wolfish grin.  “I know this trick I learned in the eleventh division that’s good for that.”

He watched those deliciously dark eyes, still strong and solid, despite the way Renji moved his foot along that strong thigh.  The shinigami growled approvingly, appreciating the dark flush that rose up to colour the human’s cheeks.

That was a green light and Renji moved closer, moving his foot away and replacing it with his hand.  He gripped Chad’s thigh with his calloused fingers, kneading the thick muscle in a way that really _was_ relaxing.

The giant didn’t move and instead pressed himself tightly against the stone wall, his breathing coming in short breaths as he kept his eyes shut.

Renji let out a sigh and continued the massaging movements, drawing his fingers down the length of his legs, squeezing the muscles free of any tight tension.  “Don’t worry,” he breathed, giving Chad’s knee a reassuring squeeze.  “This is just a little tension relief.  No strings… attached.”

He settled down beside the other man, pressing their thighs together and keeping his hands working along the strong body.  He closed his eyes as well, allowing them both to be lost in the feeling.

He gasped when he felt Chad touch him.  The movement was sudden and precise and the human locked his fingers around Renji’s arms, holding him steady.  The redhead swallowed thickly, feeling the raw power in those hands and realizing that Chad might be able to crush him if he had wanted.  He would win in a fight, but for raw power… he shuddered at the thought, feeling his cock tighten between his legs.

Those strong hands loosened a bit and began moving along Renji’s body, exploring the hard lines and muscle just as the shinigami moved his grip higher to find Chad’s semi-hard cock resting against his thigh.  He ran his fingers along the thickening length, confident in his movements as Chad moved down to reciprocate the action.

He gripped his hardness and dragged his hand upward, letting every inch of his calloused digits lightly rake along the human’s shaft.

He continued moving; slow, even strokes that built up in speed.  It was better than jerking off.  He panted roughly and heard Chad’s laboured breathing filling his ears.  Felt the larger man thrust up into his hand and the simple action spurred Renji on to jerk forward as well.

Hot fuck, he was getting there.  The way that Chad was squeezing his fingers along his dick, playing him like an instrument.

Renji grunted, squeezing his eyes tightly.  It suddenly felt too hot in the water.  Too damn warm, like he was overheating.  He spread his thighs, lifting his leg to throw over Chad’s knee as their movements intensified.  He pressed his back into the rock wall and panted heavily.

Chad seemed to be tensing up as well.  His breathing came in heavy, deep-chested pants and Renji intensified his movements, feeling his own release clawing at his being.  He choked back a growl and squeezed the other man, desperate to pull Chad off the cliff of release with him.

He thrust his hips into the water, matching Chad’s thick-fisted jerks and then let loosed a strangled cry.  He felt everything burning inside him, around him, through him.  Every muscle in his body contracted and released in unison and it was heavenly and intense.  He jerked to the side, keeping his fist tight around the dark giant’s erection as he felt the thick member twitch in his grasp.

Renji regained his breath after a long moment and relaxed against the stone wall once more.  He traced his thumb over the tip of Chad’s spent erection, feeling the skin soften beneath the pads of his fingers before loosening his grip and pulling his hand back.  Yeah, just like back in the eleventh.

“Whoo, that was great,” he said, shifting bonelessly in his seat and putting his hands behind his head.

Chad didn’t say anything and Renji looked sharply at him.  His gut sparked with the thought of the other man having regrets – he had pushed the issue, after all – but Renji didn’t see any worry or embarrassment on the dark man’s face.  His eyes were clouded, staring off at some unknown location behind him.  The redhead stared at him for a moment before catching his attention. 

Chad started when he realized he was being watched and slowly nodded at the other man.  He sighed heavily and leaned back into the water.

“Hel~lo!” came a familiar, cheery voice that made Renji start from his relaxation.  “I just wanted to tell you boys that dinner is almost rea~dy!”  If he knew anything, he didn’t show it as he snapped his fan out and waved it in front of him.  “Wow, did it get hotter here?”  He turned and walked away with a little wiggle.

“Ugh, we’ll be up in a minute,” Renji rolled his eyes, watching the other man leave.  “Weirdo.”  That did it, his heart was racing from the surprise and he didn’t feel like sitting in the water anymore.  Well, he’d gotten off and was feeling pretty good, anyways.

The redhead looked over at his training partner, the dark-skinned man with the deep voice and strong body.  “I’m not going easy on you after we eat, just so you know.”

Chad nodded his head.  “Good… thanks.”  He said nothing more and turned, climbing out of the onsen and wrapping the pathetically small towel around his waist.

The redhead climbed out as well, retrieving his clothing from the basket.  He began redressing and noticed Chad standing off to the side with a little green figure on shoulder.  He recognized the modified soul, knew that of all the people in their group, aside from Ichigo, that soul was the one Chad spent most of his time with.

He watched the two interact through dark eyes and felt his mouth twitch up at the corner.  He wondered what Ichigo was doing, thinking of asking the orange-haired boy if he’d like to train with him.  He was certain he could instigate a hell of a fight… and a hell of a cool down afterwards.


End file.
